Romance Weekly

 

My, oh my, but the weeks do fly by. Here it is Tuesday again and that means it's time for Romance Weekly. This week's questions come from my dear friend Kate Robbins. I've just finished reading her soon-to-be-released book, PROMISED TO THE HIGHLANDER, and loved every word of it. I'll be featuring Kate and her new book on my blog on June 11, so be sure to come back for that.

Here are my answers to this week's jackpot questions:

How much of yourself do you write into your characters? Or do you write characters completely opposite to you?

This is a tough one. Obviously, there are components of myself in my characters. Otherwise, I couldn't give them depth, and some of them have experiences drawn from my life in their back stories, but mainly I wouldn't say they're reflections of me. I go through a pretty involved process to create my characters, including assigning them an astrological sign that fits the personality I'm considering to fit the storyline. I also use the Enneagram to get at motivation and try to give them a back story that reinforces these things. Right now, for example, I'm creating the characters and story for The Knight of Pentacles, book three in my Knights of Avalon series. Each of the books is named after one of the knights of the tarot and emulates the qualities the card represents. Unlike the other three knight cards, the Knight of Pentacles is stationary. His horse is standing still, in other words. So, my hero is stuck. Pentacles are associated with the element of earth, so he needs to be an earth sign. I decided he's Taurus, which fits the story and sets up his conflicts. The heroine, I'm thinking, might be Virgo. At the start of the book, she's been dumped by her fiance the night before their wedding after a very long engagement. Because it's too late to get a refund on the honeymoon cottage she's rented, she decides to take the time alone to heal her broken heart. While there, she meets the knight who guards the adjacent glen where the portal into Avalon can be found.  I was once dumped by someone I was engaged to. The circumstances and reasons were different, but the feelings of heartache and loss were the same, so I will draw on those feelings to make her sympathetic and believable.

Has your writing helped you see events in your own life clearer?

Not yet, but there's still time! It has helped rekindle my interest in paganism and the tarot cards, so that's something.

Have you written a character with more of your personal characteristics than any other? What are they?

Now, there's a loaded question if ever I saw one! I'd have to say all of my heroines suffer from feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt and many of my characters share my view of the world. But not one more than another.

Thanks for stopping by. Next stop, the lovely and talented Jo Richardson's blog: http://jrrichardsonfics.wordpress.com/

Romance Weekly

It's Tuesday again and that means it's time for Romance Weekly. Here are my answers to this week's questions:

If someone could observe you writing without you knowing they were there, what strange practices might they catch you doing?

Strange practices? Sorry to disappoint, but if somebody observed me writing, they'd be bored to death. I sit at my laptop and type away. Sometimes, I stop to research something on the internet or in a book, but that's about as thrilling as it gets, I'm afraid. All the fun is inside my head and pouring through my fingertips into the computer.

Other than a creative outlet, how does writing benefit you?

I wish I could say it benefits me monetarily, but after six years of working my arse off on my first book (writing, rewriting, pitching, submitting, editing, and now pimping like a madwoman), I've made a whopping $52. I still qualify for food stamps and, as my husband loves to remind me, I've spent more promoting the book than I've made. That said, I do feel writing gives me a sense of purpose and accomplishment. It also gives me the freedom I crave. Just hope it starts to pay off by and by.

How do you feed your muse?

Usually, it's with research. My ideas tend to grow from there. History and myth, mostly. My muse prefers to share things in snippets rather than great batches, so my stories are built tree by tree until there's a forest. Then, the forest gets pruned and raked until I'm satisfied I've done my best.

***

Thanks for dropping by this week! Time to head on over to hear what oddness Jeana E. Mann gets up to while writing. Rumor has it, she does a handstand over her computer and types with her tongue, but you can't believe everything you hear. Find out for yourself: http://jeanaemann.net

Romance Weekly

 

Welcome to my wee slice of the Romance Weekly pie.

Here are my responses to this week's jackpot questions:

 

What ages are your characters?

Well, it depends. My immortal characters can be hundreds of years old, but usually appear to be between 35 and 45. My heroine's tend to hover in the cusp around 30. For my paranormals, anyway. In my political thriller, The Tin Man (coming August 30 from CHBB), my hero is 45 and the heroine is 38.

What special things or places inspire you to write? 

History, mythology, and things paranormal and occult are my primary inspirations. All my stories are tied in a big way to Scotland and/or Celtic myth and culture. Even in my thriller, which is set in iconic locales within the United States, the hero is an ex-pat Scot from Edinburgh.

What is the one message you hope women will receive when they read your stories? 

This one is tougher to answer. Messages? Depends on the book. All of mine have different underlying themes. In The Queen of Swords, it's to trust fate and the magic of love. In The Knight of Wands, my next paranormal, it's not to let other people make you doubt your worth; in The Tin Man, it's not to let the media fall into the hands of those who would use it to manipulate public opinion and to be a critical thinker and not buy into propaganda without questioning the source and their motive.

Time to pop over to hear what the lovely and talented Sarah Hegger has to say in reply to these same three questions. Take it away, Sarah!

Romance Weekly

 

Welcome to my wee slice of Romance Weekly.

Here are my responses to this week's jackpot questions:

Who is your favorite character and why?

I love them all, of course. Graham, the hero in The Queen of Swords, is both noble and funny. Callum, the hero in The Knight of Wands, is a good-hearted romantic. Leith, the hero of my WIP, is a bit on the dark side, but still well-intentioned. If pressed to pick just one, I’d have to go with Alex Buchanan, the journalist hero in The Tin Man. He’s very complex and has lots of demons to overcome, but also is a really good guy.

Do you prefer to write your hero or heroine?

My heroes, hands down. All my stories, though told from both points of view, are really about him more than her. Even when I was a kid, I used to play Ken to my sisters' Barbies. I'm sure there's some deep psychological reason for this, but I couldn't tell you why I just find men more interesting. Or maybe it's just because I'm a heterosexual woman.

What are three things you can't write without?

Google, the fifteen beats of Save the Cat plotting, and a notebook to scribble down ideas.


Now it's time to head on over to hear what Kim Handysides has to say on these subjects.

Romance Weekly

Do you like to read romance novels? Wouldn't you like to know more about your favorite authors? Well you came to the right place! Join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes of our books and tell all... About our writing of course! Every week we'll answer questions and after you've enjoyed the blog on this site we'll direct you to another. So come back often for a thrilling ride! Tell your friends and feel free to ask questions in the comment box."

. . . 

 Welcome to my wee slice of Romance Weekly. Here are my responses to this week's jackpot questions:

A Hollywood producer is interested in your book. Can you come up with an enticing logline (plot summary of 25 words or less)?

Of course I can. The 25-word version:

A bookish white witch returns every hundred years to reunite with her earthbound soul mate--a Scottish earl turned vampire by a dark wizard's curse.

The slightly more verbose version:

The Queen of Swords brings together romance, history, fantasy, mythology, and the occult to spin a spellbinding tale of a love that has survived for centuries. Cat Fingal, a bookish white witch, returns every 100 years with a hole in her heart she doesn't know how to fill--until she meets Graham, her soul mate who's been earthbound by a dark wizard's curse. Will she find a way to free him the third time around ... or are they destined to repeat the cycle for eternity as star-crossed lovers?

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in the movie rendition?

This collage shows my casting choices for Cat and Graham, the heroine and hero of The Queen of Swords. Cat would be played by someone like Emily Blunt. British, dark haired, and beautiful in an unconventional way. Graham would be played by Rupert Friend, who I used as the physical model for his character while writing the book. For some of my blog interviews, I also have created Pinterest boards of the characters and settings for The Queen of Swords (out now) and my next book, The Knight of Wands (coming soon). Here's the link if you want to check them out: http://www.pinterest.com/ninamason165/

Does the storyline of your novel compare with any films out there?

If it does, I'm not aware of them. There are similarities between my plot and Frances Ford Coppola's Dracula in that my heroine is the reincarnation of the vampire's former love, but that's about all they have in common.

Thanks for stopping by. Time to swing over to Amy Jarecki's blog to see how she will answer these same three questions.

Romance Weekly

Do you like to read romance novels? Wouldn't you like to know more about your favorite authors? Well you came to the right place! Join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes of our books and tell all... About our writing of course! Every week we'll answer questions and after you've enjoyed the blog on this site we'll direct you to another. So come back often for a thrilling ride! Tell your friends and feel free to ask questions in the comment box."

. . . 

 Welcome to my wee slice of Romance Weekly. Here are my responses to this week's jackpot questions:

How do you find the appropriate setting for the story or does it find you?

Most of my paranormals are set in Scotland, so I suppose you could say the setting finds me. I'm a nut for all things Scottish and Celtic myth, so I tend to look for different Scottish locales in which to set the books. Other settings also come into play. The Queen of Swords, for example, is set in a fictitious village in County Essex, England, called Wickenham. The hero's castle is on the Black Isle and there are flashbacks to Ireland, London, Paris, and Singapore. In The Knight of Wands, the story starts out in Caithness, the northernmost part of Scotland, then shifts to New Orleans. In book two, which I'm writing now, the story starts out in Nairn and moves to the fantasy world. I've got another work-in-progress set in the Hebrides. The only book so far not set in Scotland is The Tin Man, my political thriller, which is scheduled for release by CHBB on August 30. The hero is an ex-pat Scot, so he has memories of growing up in Edinburgh, but the book is about American liberties, so I set it in landmark places here: New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. To me, the setting is almost a character in the story and I therefore try to immerse the reader in the location. I've read several books set in Scotland that could have been set anywhere except for the clans and the castle keeps. I really try to give readers a feel for where they are in my books.

What is your system of support for writing? Family, friends, other writers? 

My family is supportive of my writing, but doesn't want to hear the minutia of my day to day struggles with putting words on the page, so I'd have to say other writers. For a while, I used a writing coach to help me hone my craft, but now I've got a wonderful critique partner who reads my stuff and tells where when it's going off the rails. I also have beta readers who react to stuff and a street team to cheer me up when I feel discouraged on the promoting end of things.

What is the worst writing advice you ever received and how did you deal with it?

I had to give this one some thought. I got a load of bad advice from one well-meaning editor: dumb down my writing to appeal to a wider audience, stop writing the book I was working on because nobody would want to read it, write to trends, consider self-publishing. In hopes of getting a contract with that particular publisher, I did simplify my next book and shelve my WIP, but it still wasn't right for them. Sigh. I'm planning to resurrect that abandoned WIP as soon as I finish the book I'm writing now.

Time to move on to the next writer in the circle to see what she has to say in response to this week's questions. So, I give you another lover of Scotland, Amy Jarecki.

Romance Weekly

Do you like to read romance novels? Wouldn't you like to know more about your favorite authors? Well you came to the right place! Join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes of our books and tell all... About our writing of course! Every week we'll answer questions and after you've enjoyed the blog on this site we'll direct you to another. So come back often for a thrilling ride! Tell your friends and feel free to ask questions in the comment box."

. . .

Welcome to my wee slice of Romance Weekly. Here are my responses to this week's jackpot questions:

How does your writing impact your inner life?

I'm a very creative person and I believe the creative spark has a spiritual source, so I find the process of writing very transcendent. Well, perhaps not on a bad day when my muse has decided to call in sick, but on a good day, there's nothing better. I also believe the books themselves serve a purpose in the world. My characters often struggle with their beliefs about God and faith and the hereafter and I believe those struggles might resonate for my readers.Before I published The Queen of Swords, I worried that people would find the character's discussions about religion off-putting, but so far, not one person has so much as mentioned it. Go figure. Writing the book also made me reflect on my own spiritual path, which has slipped too far into the background in recent years.

How do you hope your books affect your readers? 

I strive to write the kind of books I like to read: those that entertain, edify, and enlighten to some extent. If reading one of my books makes someone stop to consider something they've never considered before, then I've succeeded.

Has anyone told you your book changed their life? How?

Not yet and I don't know that they ever will, but it would be gratifying to hear. I believe literature can change lives and while what I write isn't quite at the level of literature, I still believe it could alter someone's perspective. Even if it doesn't and they simply enjoy the ride, I'd be satisfied. The Queen of Swords, my debut novel, released on Saturday and is now available on Amazon.com. It's been getting phenomenal reviews, which pleases me no end.

Now, off you go to read what romance writer Brenda Margriet has to say in response to these questions (mine!).

Romance Weekly

Do you like to read romance novels? Wouldn't you like to know more about your favorite authors? Well you came to the right place! Join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes of our books and tell all... About our writing of course! Every week we'll answer questions and after you've enjoyed the blog on this site we'll direct you to another. So come back often for a thrilling ride! Tell your friends and feel free to ask questions in the comment box."

. . .

Welcome to my wee slice of Romance Weekly. Here are my responses to this week's jackpot questions:

Who is your favorite author in your genre and why?

 

This one's a bit tricky because it's hard to say which genre it is I write in. I usually say my books are contemporary Scottish paranormal romances, but they also incorporate elements of urban fantasy, high fantasy, horror, and erotic romance. Still, I'd have to say my hands-down favorite is Diana Gabaldon. Not just in my genre but among all genres. Her books transport me to another time and world, make me feel her characters deeply enough to cheer and cry for them, and the poetry of her prose makes me green with envy. What can I say? She's enormously gifted. Why else would I have read all of her books in the Outlander series? Have you seen her books? They're enormous and I'm a slow reader who lives to savor every delicious word.

What is your favorite book by them and why?

Oh, this is a tough one. I loved them all for different reasons. Outlander, Voyager, Dragonfly in Amber, Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, An Echo in the Bone. I loved Clare and Jamie's time in France with all the court intrigues while trying to stop Culloden from happening, loved their time on Fraser Ridge, loved their adventures in the American Revolution. Such amazing stuff, all. I guess, if forced to choose, I'd have to pick the first one: Outlander. Two fellow writers recommended that I read it and, when I finally did, I was hooked from the very first sentence.

What about their style inspires your writing?

 

What doesn't? I feel her writing raises her romances to the level of literature. I work hard at improving my writing and making it beautiful, but I certainly wouldn't categorize it as literary. Though, two reviewers of my forthcoming book (The Queen of Swords, my debut novel, is out in just four more days!) have called the writing "beautiful," "lyrical," and "as fluid as honey." That's not bad, right? I've always been my own worst critic and probably always will be. Diana writes pages and pages of gorgeous descriptive prose and my editors tell me to cut mine because people just skim over it. Really? What a shame. I love gorgeous writing that sets a scene, but try not to go overboard and bore the reader.

Okay. That's my monologue for this week. Let's go see who inspires Katie O'Connor and all the other talented writers in our weekly circle.

Romance Weekly

Do you like to read romance novels? Wouldn't you like to know more about your favorite authors? Well you came to the right place! Join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes of our books and tell all... About our writing of course! Every week we'll answer questions and after you've enjoyed the blog on this site we'll direct you to another. So come back often for a thrilling ride! Tell your friends and feel free to ask questions in the comment box."

. . .

Welcome to my wee slice of Romance Weekly. Here are my responses to this week's jackpot questions:

When someone finds out you're an author, how do you handle the statement, "I have a story you should write"?

Oh, dear. I wish I could say I've never heard this, but it seems to me I have. How do I react? Well, I probably take on an expression similar to a deer in headlights, then stammer something unintelligible, and either get the hell away from the person or abruptly change the subject. If the person has a story, they should write it. I'm not a newspaper reporter. I write my own stories based on the characters who come to me and the things I feel deeply.

Do you write what you read?

Not really, but only because I don't have the ability. My first love is literary fiction and classic literature. Literary fiction is all about the writing and I think my writing style and voice are better suited to genre fiction. On the other hand, I do write some of the genre fiction I read, but that's really in reverse. I started reading the genres in which I write (Scottish and paranormal romance) AFTER I started writing it, to better acquaint myself with those genres.

People often mistake the lifestyle of a writer as glamorous. Give us the scoop, what about your lifestyle would shock your readers?

Where to begin? For one thing, I'm dirt poor. My first book will release in 11 more days and I've been told not to expect to make much money until I've got five or six books out there. I write at a tiny secretary in a tiny room in a tiny cottage in North Georgia. My house isn't as clean as I'd like it to be because when faced with the choice between cleaning and writing, I choose writing more often then not. To feed my family, I buy the cheapest cuts of meat I can find and make them last for two or three meals. Not very glamorous, is it? So, please think about this when you share a book. Except for the millionaire bestsellers like Stephenie Meyer, we make a pittance. So please buy our books. :)

. . . 

Thanks for stopping by. Now, go on to see what Victoria Barbour has to say in response to the same three questions. For a real treat, follow the whole circle around and see what all the romance writers in this group have to say. It's usually quite entertaining and eye-opening.

Romance Weekly

Do you like to read romance novels? Wouldn't you like to know more about your favorite authors? Well you came to the right place! Join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes of our books and tell all... About our writing of course! Every week we'll answer questions and after you've enjoyed the blog on this site we'll direct you to another. So come back often for a thrilling ride! Tell your friends and feel free to ask questions in the comment box."

. . .

Welcome to my wee slice of Romance Weekly. Here are my responses to this week's jackpot questions:

Do you have recurring themes in your work, either intentional or unintentional?

 

Yes. Absolutely. Intentionally. My romances reflect on the power of love to heal and redeem lost souls. They also touch on some of my deep pet peeves:  the raping of the environment for personal gain, the hypocrisy of humanity, Scotland's long and bloody struggle for independence, the meaning of honesty and freedom, and the belief in a higher power that's loving and forgiving rather than stern and judgmental. And you thought they were just steamy romances, right?

Do you carefully plot your stories or do you plot as you write? Why do you think this particular ethos works for you?

 

Let's just say, the more I learn about plotting the more plotting I do. Writing novels is hard work. Writing good ones is even harder. Good novels tend to follow arcs and have beats where key things happen as those arcs unfold. I usually start out by writing character sketches, including making index cards for their goals, motivations, and conflicts. Then, I try to map out scenes in a line or two that demonstrate these things while following the maps provided by The Hero's Journey and/or Save the Cat. Even when I do all this at the outset, the story takes on a life of its own (if I'm lucky), the characters act against the attributes I've assigned them, and new and better ideas occur at junctures that require massive rewrites and replotting. Even when I have all the elements figured out, once I start writing, it can turn into a bunch of trees with no forest in sight. That's when I summon my excellent critique partner, Sarah Hegger. She's got a knack for recognizing an arc gone bad and helps get me back on track. Thanks Sarah! As to the second part of the question, well, I'm a person who needs tools and maps to help my muse find her way. The more tools I have and the more things make sense, the easier it is to move forward.

Is there a particular genre (within romance) you could never write? Why?

 

There are several, all of them very popular right now. Small town, military, inspirational as it's currently defined. Navy Seal heroes are not my thing. In fact, uber-controlling Alpha-male heroes are not my thing. My heroes are the kind of men I wish there were more of, not the kind I find controlling and macho. I could never love that kind of man and neither could my heroines. I like to play with stereotype reversals in my work. In The Knight of Wands, my next book, the heroine is the one who fears commitment while the hero falls in love at first sight and must fight his possessive nature at every turn to pursue her in a way that will convince her he's not out to steal her freedom. Let me flip the question. What particular genre would I write but am not writing now? Historicals, specifically Scottish historicals. I love history, especially Scottish history, and have studied the history of fashion and costuming for my dollmaking. I think I could write great historicals. I just need a fresh idea and one hasn't occurred to me yet. First, though, I need to finish the novels I've already got planned: Book Two in The Knights of Avalon series, which I'm about three-quarters through; a book I'm about halfway through about a merman who gets caught in an oil spill; and the last two books in The Knights series (The Knight of Pentacles and The Knight of Swords, respectively). I'd also like to do a follow-up to my thriller releasing on August 30, my first non-paranormal dealing with the threats to our freedoms imposed by runaway media monopolies.


Okay. That's it for me this week. Now it's time to move around the circle and see what my fellow romance authors have to say about these same questions. Next stop is LaNora Mangano.

Romance Weekly

"Do you like to read romance novels? Wouldn't you like to know more about your favorite authors? Well you came to the right place! Join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes of our books and tell all... About our writing of course! Every week we'll answer questions and after you've enjoyed the blog on this site we'll direct you to another. So come back often for a thrilling ride! Tell your friends and feel free to ask questions in the comment box."

. . .

Welcome to my wee slice of Romance Weekly. Here are my responses to this week's jackpot questions:

 

What is your writing process like?

Truthfully, it's organized chaos.  It also changes with each book because I evolve as a writer with each book. I'm still very much in learning mode as an author of fiction. I've been a writer all my life, and an avid reader of novels, but those don't necessarily translate whole-cloth to the craft of fiction-writing. At present, my process starts with a rough idea. I sit down with index cards and try to work out the goals, motivations, and conflicts for the central characters and a rough idea of plot. I then try to rough out a map of the scenes. Once I start writing, things tend to change. New ideas come to me or I find something didn't work and needs to be rethought. Now, thankfully, I have a wonderful critique partner in Sarah Hegger, who busts my buns when my characters behave inconsistently or my writing doesn't delve deep enough into POV. She sees the forest when I'm lost in the trees and it's enormously helpful! Thanks Sarah, for all your help.

Do you listen to music to enhance your writing?

The short answer is, I don't. Well, I did listen to some Scottish Christmas music (you haven't lived until you've heard traditional caroles on the bagpipe, lol) in the background while I was writing during the holidays, but nothing specifically to inspire my creative muse. I prefer silence when I write. I am, however, deeply moved by music in general. I play the viola (badly and hardly ever anymore) and was a freelance rock journalist once upon a time. Perhaps I should listen to music next time I get stuck for a scene idea. 

What two songs best describe your overall body of work?

At this point in time, my "body of work" consists of three completed manuscripts (under contract but not yet published) and two works in progress. All but one are paranormal romances. The other is a political thriller. When I asked my one beta reader who's read all of my finished books if she saw a common thread among them, she said, yes, all my characters have demons to fight. Not real demons, mind, but the internal kind that get in our way. So, for that reason, I'd have to choose  "Demons" by Imagine Dragons. For the second song, I'd pick either "Losing My Religion" by REM or one of three by The Police: "Every Little Thing She Does," "Every Breath You Take," or "King of Pain." Yeah, my characters suffer a lot of angst. Can't imagine where they get that from, lol.

. . . 

Now, enough about me. Time to head around the circle and see what my fellow romance authors have to say in response to the same three questions, starting with Carrie Elks.